The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Conventional cover plates for wall-mounted electrical wiring boxes, referred to herein as “wall plates,” are usually constructed in the form of a plastic or metal plate, having one or more openings that provide limited access to a wired device secured within the electrical box. The primary purpose of the wall plate is to prevent an operator from being exposed to the electrical terminals and wiring within the interior of the electrical box.
Wired devices conforming to the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) standards include a metal yoke or mounting strap (collectively, referred to as a “yoke”) with oversized mounting holes which permit adjustment of the wired device within the electrical box. The yoke also includes one or more threaded mounting holes for attaching a wall plate by means of screw or screw-type fasteners onto the yoke, thereby completing enclosure of the wired device inside the electrical box. As such, wall plates have been traditionally mounted onto the yoke of a wired device by standard screw fasteners.
While traditional screw-type wall plates offer the operator ready access to the wired device in the electrical box in the event that repair, or replacement of the wired device is necessary, such plates having exposed screws are not aesthetically pleasing to consumers. In response, many industry manufacturers have introduced screwless wall plates that utilize a series of protrusions and indentations which physically clip the wall plate onto a wired device.
Unfortunately, such devices suffer from many drawbacks relating to design and functionality. For example, by relying purely on compression fittings, such devices utilize a plurality of different components to form an assembly before being clipped onto the wired device. When fully assembled, these elements present a bulky appearance and typically include a depth that is approximately 2-3 cm, which is easily twice as deep as a traditional wall plate, thus providing a less aesthetically pleasing look.
Moreover, owing to the larger size and greater mass of such devices, it is not uncommon for these wall plates to fall off and/or to be inadvertently knocked off of the wired device when in use. Such circumstances result in the operator being exposed to the potentially deadly wires that are connected to the wired device. Although some manufacturers have attempted to cure this problem by providing adhesives to reinforce the connection between the wall plate and the wired device, this solution is impractical as it prevents users from accessing the electric box without physically damaging the glued wall plate.
Accordingly, it would be beneficial to provide a wall plate system having a screwless cover that can be adapted for use with any type of wired device and that does not suffer from the drawbacks of the above noted devices.